Not applicable
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to the jewelry art, particularly the finger ring art, and specifically to an improvement in self-sizing rings for reducing the effective size of a ring finger opening to provide a better fit for the user.
2. Description of Related Art
A problem often encountered by jewelers concerns a client who has developed large knuckles due to aging, weight gain, arthritis, etc., compared to the digital portion of the ring finger. Therefore, when a ring is made or adjusted to fit over the enlarged knuckle, it is too large for the digital portion of the ring finger and will tend to turn on the finger. This can occur with new rings or with older rings that need to be retrofitted.
A somewhat similar problem confronts jewelers when a ring is passed from one owner to another with the owners having different sized fingers. Rings can only be stretched or cut down within small limits without weakening the structure or introducing imperfections into the metal.
There also is a need for a product which can be incorporated into new rings during their fabrication to provide a better fit for the ring on the finger of the user. A ring so constructed then has the capability of adjusting to changes in the finger size of the owner or of subsequent owners.
There have been numerous attempts to address these problems. These include devices which clamp onto the ring shank and generally are flexible to accommodate different sized fingers. Typical such devices are shown in Gesensway U.S. Pat. No. 5,239,842; Gesensway U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,507; Lodrini U.S. Pat. No. 4,569,211; Ellenbecker et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,256; Buontempo et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,491; Lodrini U.S. Pat. No. 4,480,447; Tucker U.S. Pat. No. 3,465,544; Doering U.S. Pat. No. 3,237,426; McKellar U.S. Pat. No. 1,481,297; Levin U.S. Pat. No.1,754,392; Sokolof U.S. Pat. No. 2,010,444; McLees, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 3,354,669; Bratman U.S. Pat. No. 2,532,354; Mayer U.S. Pat. No.3,483,717; Virtanen U.S. Pat. No. 3,603,109; Mroz U.S. Pat. No. 4,215,556; Kaplan U.S. Pat. No.4,471,634; Parks U.S. Pat. No. 4,538,430; and Rood U.S. Pat. No. 5,628,208. These all tend to add unsightly bulk to the ring, are very visible when the ring is worn, are uncomfortable, hard to install or not acceptable when installed in expensive custom made jewelry.
Other patents show devices which are completely or partially housed in the ring shank or in the ring setting and are movable into the space through which the finger is inserted. Such devices include Miller U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,531 which uses a lever arm, a set screw and an air cylinder in various embodiments to move a cradle into engagement with the digital portion of the user""s finger. Erb U.S. Pat. No. 5,943,882 uses a movable bridge to adjust the size of the ring shank. Nesbit U.S. Pat. No. 3,835,664 attaches a magnetic disc to the ring beneath the setting. A shim, which is attracted to the magnetic disc is positioned inside the shank to reduce the size. Schechter et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,360,959 has a sector pivotally mounted in a slot in the ring band with an undulating upper surface that is engaged with the digital position of the user""s finger after the ring has been slipped onto the finger with the sector in open position. A catch allows the sector to be locked in closed position. Sessa U.S. Pat. No. 2,055,315 has a tongue and groove insert for positioning inside the ring shank to reduce its size.
There also are patents that utilize springs or other resilient means to reduce the size of the ring shank. Leone U.S. Pat. No. 3,590,598 utilizes a spring-biased detent to hold a size reducing element in closed position and permits it to be pivoted to an open position to allow the finger to be inserted into the ring shank. Martinez U.S. Pat. No. 4,223,541 provides a slot inside the shank and an opening in the bottom of the slot opposite the setting. Serrations are provided at the upper ends of the slot and a U-shaped band with resilient ends adapted to engage the serrations is located in the slot and provided with a tab which resides in the bottom slot opening. The band is moved upwardly and downwardly to adjust the size of the shank opening. Graftstein U.S. Pat. No. 2,745,265 attaches a frame beneath the setting and has pivotally mounted mobile elements spring biased into the shank area to reduce the ring size and movable into the setting area to increase the ring size. Axel U.S. Pat. No. 2,615,314 provides a spring-loaded movable sheet metal member positioned beneath the ring setting and normally reducing the size of the finger-receiving opening in the band. When it is moved into the ring setting area against the action of the springs, the opening is increased. Miller U.S. Pat. No. 6,003,334 shows a ring shank having a slot on the lower inside portion with a cradle adapted to move from the slot into finger engaging position by means of articulated hinges at each end and a leaf spring positioned in the slot which urges the cradle into finger engaging position. The hinges have slots and hinge pins movable in the slots to open and close the cradle. Many of these devices are difficult to produce and even more difficult to retrofit to existing rings.
To be practical when used with rings costing many thousands of dollars, ring size reducing devices need to be invisible to the user and those viewing the ring on the hand of the user, have a comfortable feel, and be able to be retrofitted to existing rings by competent jewelers.
In my co-pending Ser. No. 09/666,649, I have disclosed a first finger ring size opening reducing device which comprises a ring shank which has a cavity in the lower portion which extends into the sides of the shank. Inside the shank cavity are a pair of ring size reducing members which are pivotally connected to the shank at their upper ends and have a notch in their free ends which allows limited movement into the finger opening while preventing total exodus from the cavity. Resilient means urge the size reducing members into the shank finger opening, while allowing the size reducing members to be to be moved completely into the cavity to let the ring move over an enlarged knuckle.
In the first embodiment of the invention shown in Ser. No. 09/666,649, two leaf springs are utilized, one beneath each size reducing member. A second embodiment shown in Ser. No. 09/666,649 has a single leaf spring with two arms, each of which engages and urges a size reducing member into the finger opening.
In this application are disclosed in detail several other embodiments of the invention, some of which were described briefly but not shown in the drawings of Ser. No. 09/666,649.
In particular, in one embodiment the present application discloses a ring shank having a slot in the lowermost portion with a size reducing member located in the slot and biased into the finger opening by a single leaf spring fixed in the slot and positioned beneath the size reducing member.
Another embodiment of this application discloses a ring shank having a slot in the lowermost portion with a single size reducing member pivoted at one end of the slot and biased into the finger opening by a single leaf spring located in the slot beneath the size reducing member.
Still another embodiment of this application has a ring with a slot in the lower shank portion and a novel coil spring having coils at each end and a coil in the center positioned in the slot beneath pivoted arms at each end of the slot to bias the arms into the finger opening.
Another embodiment disclosed in this application involves a self-contained size reducing unit which is inserted into a slot cut into the lower shank of a ring and anchored therein. The unit has an element or elements which are urged into the finger opening.
As noted in Ser. No. 09/666,649, the invention is applicable to a conventional ring shank of uniform thickness and to a counterweighted ring shank having extra thickness at its lower portion. As shown, the invention can utilize leaf springs and other resilient compressible elements, such as, coil springs, resilient polymeric material and the like.
Also as shown, a single size reducing member pivoted at one end in a slot on the ring shank and restrained on the shank at its free end also can be used.
It is therefore a principal object of the invention to provide a self-adjusting ring size reducer which allows passage of a ring over a user""s knuckle (often enlarged) while still providing a comfortable and satisfactory fit on the digital portion of the user""s finger. A further object is to provide a ring size adjustment mechanism which fits unobtrusively into the ring shank and which can be retrofitted to existing rings. It is still another object of the present invention to provide a ring size reducer which does not impair the ring setting site, does not protrude on the side edges of the ring, and is virtually unnoticeable when the ring is on the finger of the user.
These and other objects and advantages will become apparent in connection with the following detailed description and drawings.